


you were the first to say (that we were not okay)

by paragraphrhymer



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Evil Queen | Regina Mills and Emma Swan are Henry Mills's Parents, F/F, Fluff, Found Family, Kinda, Not Beta Read, They love each other, but its messed up, idk how to tag sorry, set in S1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29505447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paragraphrhymer/pseuds/paragraphrhymer
Summary: Henry knows something is wrong with Storybooke.Most importantly, he knows something is wrong with his moms.Or,(An Alternate Universe where Emma is cursed along with the rest of the town, and Henry is the first one to realize it.)
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 11
Kudos: 48





	1. knowledge

Henry isn’t stupid. He knows something is up with the town, he knows something is up with his moms. 

Well, at least with _one_ of his moms. Regina. 

He knows something is going on, something they don’t want him to find out, and—

With a sigh, he rips out the page of his notebook. Honestly, he doesn’t even know what he’s doing. _Writing down what he knows?_ What is he, some kind of dummy? No, if he writes down what he knows then _she_ might read it, and that could end badly for him and Emma.

He hasn’t spoken to Emma yet, but he already knows what her reaction will be—she will talk to Regina, and he can’t afford her knowing. Who knows what the Evil Queen might do if she realizes he’s become self-aware. If Emma doesn’t believe him then she will go running to Regina, surely.

No. The first thing Henry needs to do is convince Emma of the truth—which he already knows is gonna be _so_ hard to achieve, but he has a bit of hope inside of him. If _anyone_ were to believe him, then it would be Emma; it _has_ to be Emma. He’s sure of it. Besides, it’s not like the Queen’s curse could have _that_ much of a grip on her.

There’s a reason why Emma’s cursed as well, and Henry _knows_ it’s because she’s the one meant to break the curse. Otherwise, if she didn’t pose a threat to the curse, then why would the Queen put her in it as well? Wouldn’t it have been better to have her knight be aware of everything?

Emma is cursed, he’s sure of it. The book doesn’t say who’s cursed and who isn’t, but he knows Emma is. Either that or the Queen took her heart. Or both, maybe; he isn’t sure about that last theory but he won’t dispatch it, just in case.

Anyway, Henry knows Emma is cursed as well; there’s no other way anyone would _willingly_ remain at the Evil Queen’s side. He knows all of them are cursed, and he knows _he_ was cursed as well not so long ago—or perhaps he is still a little bit cursed, given the fact that he can’t really remember much of what his life was like back in the Enchanted Forest. But, none of that matters, really; it will all get fixed once Emma saves them all.

It’s kind of sarcastic, he thinks. No, wait—not sarcastic, he thinks to himself with a groan, _ironic_ , that’s the right word. He rolls his eyes and thinks his mom would probably correct him on the spot if she heard him.

It’s kind of ironic that the Evil Queen’s knight is the one meant to break the curse. Henry doesn’t know much about sarcas— _irony_ , he doesn’t know much about irony, but he thinks this might be a good example of it.

Truth be told, the book doesn’t give him enough info about the situation. He’s been able to piece together what happened, based off of his own memories and what the book says, but it’s not a lot.

  1. Fact the first: Henry knows he is currently living in a cursed town—Storybrooke. Everyone living in it is cursed as well, with no idea of it whatsoever.
  2. Fact the second: The Evil Queen, aka Regina Mills, aka his _mom_ , is the one who cursed everyone.
  3. Fact the third: They all come from the Enchanted Forest, a mystical land placed in who knows where. Honestly, it’s not like geography is his strongest subject. Or math, for that matter.
  4. Fact the fourth: He knows he used to live with the Queen, back on their true realm. He doesn’t really remember _how_ or exactly _why_ , but he knows he must be important or related to the curse. Otherwise, why would she keep him in the first place?
  5. Fact the fifth: Emma used to live with them as well—or, she used to work for the Queen? He doesn’t really know how to define it, but she used to be the Queen’s personal knight. Super fearsome and all that. Since he doesn’t remember that and it’s not really detailed in the book, he can’t quite picture it—after all, it’s _Emma_ he’s talking about, and how could someone who drinks hot chocolate with _cinnamon_ on top be scary? She usually makes the funny voices when it’s her turn to read him books to bed, and—well, he doesn’t want to think about it anymore, won’t give this fact much thought. Henry already has one evil mom; he doesn’t think he could stand to have the two of them turn out to be evil.



Really, despite everything, he truly believes Emma is the one meant to save them all; he just knows she’s the Saviour. The Evil Queen must keep her around to keep an eye on her, or maybe she just likes to know she has her mortal nemesis fooled or something. He doesn’t like to think of the Queen’s motives either because, well, it sort of makes his head hurt.

It’s probably not that deep, he figures. If he stops to think about the motives then he will never get anything done, and he doesn’t think he can stand to not do anything for much longer.

It’s simple, really.

Evil Queen does evil things, simply because she is evil. Evil things like casting a curse, which she ends up managing to get away with, despite the heroes trying their hardest to stop her. Then, the Saviour comes into the picture—a little late to his liking, but it’s okay, he knows no story is good a story without a little drama in the middle—and breaks the curse. Everyone regains their memories, and pam! Happy ending, just like that.

Simple. A piece of cake, as his teacher would say.

Honestly, the only real problem here isn’t even convincing Emma. It’s straying out of the Queen’s radar—it’s like she has eyes everywhere! He knows convincing Emma is gonna be difficult, but he will manage—after all, the hero _always_ ends up believing in the end. _Always_.

Maybe, he wonders, if he—

“Hey kid, everything okay?”

Looking up from his blank notebook, he finds Emma, staring at him, one arm lying against the frame of his bedroom door.

“Yeah.”

She frowns a little, but kind of shrugs it off. He knows he should be acting more normal, to not raise suspicion and all that, but he can’t really bring himself to care right now. “Okay, then go wash up. Dinner’s ready.”

Henry nods, and when he doesn’t make any movements at all, Emma approaches him with a sigh.

“Hurry up, will you?” She ruffles his hair in that way that she _knows_ he hates. “Before your mom starts to get worried you accidentally hurt yourself with one of your comic books or something.”

“It was one time!”

“One time as far as _we_ know. Honestly, I think we have to start taking those comic books away from you—first it’s a small cut, but tomorrow? It could turn into a blood bath!” She ends the phrase on a dramatic note, the one they always use to mock his mom and he can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of him.

“Mom!”

Emma flashes him a smile and raises her hands in a _I-surrender-but-not-really-surrender_ gesture, walking backwards towards the door. Before she’s completely out of his bedroom, she raises her eyebrows. “But really, you know you can talk to me if anything’s wrong right? Your mom and I are here for you. _Always_.”

She’s out the door before he can even form a sentence—and, well, as he stares at his now open door he realizes that, despite everything, he only knows one thing for sure.

This whole thing is gonna be _super_ hard.


	2. school

As Henry had predicted, things were starting to get difficult. He doesn’t think he can contain himself anymore—he’s always one sentence away from spilling everything to Emma.

Which, he can’t do. He’s pretty sure Emma told the Queen he was acting weird, and now _she_ is onto him as well. He knows he isn’t the best actor out there, but he didn’t think he was being _that_ obvious. Henry can handle Emma and her puppy eyes, sure, but he is not so sure he is going to be able to handle the Queen’s suspicious eyes on him much longer.

Honestly, he doesn’t really know what his next move here should be—if Emma already told the Queen he was acting strange, then she _for sure_ will spill the beans about the book. He wants to just straight up tell her about everything, but that won’t work; he needs to be smart about this, or else it will all fall apart.

Because if the Queen finds out about everything, then she _will_ stop them. And he doesn’t really know what she will do to stop them—he doesn’t want to push her that far. Yes, the book talks about an Evil Queen, desperate to get revenge on Snow White and her family, willing to do _anything_ to get what she wants—taking hearts, killing people, destroying entire villages just because. And, while he believes in what the book says, he can’t really picture his mom being like that; and maybe, just maybe, he thinks, it’s because of the curse.

Maybe the curse caused them to think differently about her? He can’t really come up with any other explanation. And he doesn’t really want to believe she cares about either him or Emma; the villain caring about the hero? It would be like Doctor Octopus caring about Spiderman, and, well, that’s just plain ridiculous.

Most of the times, Emma is the one who picks him up after school—the Queen is usually busy with whatever being a Mayor implies, and Emma, being the sheriff of a town where literally _nothing_ ever happens, is the most available one out of the two. He doesn’t even get why she goes to the station every day, or why she is the sheriff in the first place, it’s not like Graham can’t handle his job as the deputy, or just be the sheriff instead.

Graham. Sheriff’s Deputy. The _Huntsman_.

Lately he’s been trying to put together who is who, trying to piece together the identities of everyone, matching who they are now with who they used to be back in the Enchanted Forest. He’s already cracked a few of them, and, well, Henry is quite proud of himself.

Like, for instance, Graham is the Huntsman. That one is quite obvious, he thinks. Graham is nice, but he is sort of always around? Always answering to the Evil Queen and even Emma’s orders—and, yes, they are both technically his bosses, but _still_. And—this is the saddest part, he believes—Graham never shows much emotion over anything; he acts _numb_. Granted, Henry doesn’t know much about emotional depth and all that, but even he can tell Graham is lacking something. His heart, actually—he’s lacking a heart, Henry supposes.

Miss Blanchard, his teacher? That’s Snow White. It makes perfect sense—the Queen has never liked her, always avoided her; he suspects the main reason she never picks him up after school is because she doesn’t want to see his teacher. Funny enough, Emma doesn’t seem to have a problem with Miss Blanchard; she’s indifferent about the whole thing, sometimes even trying to act as mediator if something were to happen.

That’s a good thing, actually. Considering Mary Margaret _is_ Emma’s mom, after all. He hasn’t figured out how he’s going to explain that one to Emma yet, but he’ll see.

Ruby, from Granny’s? She’s Little Red Riding Hood. And, he thinks it’s kinda awesome and badass that she can turn into a wolf, but that’s a whole other topic.

Granny is _obviously_ Little Red Riding Hood’s grandma. Like, _duh_. He didn’t even have to think about that one.

David Nolan is Prince Charming, and the main lead on that one was the way him and Miss Blanchard are always making heart eyes at each other—which, _gross_ ; Henry knows he should be moved that their True Love stands strong even through a curse but, gross—even though he is technically married. No way would a married man look at someone else like _that_. Plus, he totally looks like a prince, even if he is like fifty years old or something.

Emma is Snow White’s daughter, _and_ somehow the Evil Queen’s knight? He still can’t figure out how those two work together, or even _why_ , but the important thing is that he cracked that identity as well.

Henry doesn’t know where he stands and all of this—the book merely mentions him! He sorta figures he must be important, given that he used to be in the Evil Queen’s castle and all, but he doesn’t know why he was there, or what he used to do.

Did he want to be there, with her? Was he forced into it somehow, maybe even kept as a prisoner of some kind? He can’t imagine why the Queen would want a kid in her castle, and it’s just _so_ frustrating to not know what his true identity is. It’s kind of unfair that he gets to know who everyone truly is but doesn’t know himself.

Whatever. He will remember once Emma breaks the curse and defeats the Queen.

He’s going to tell her today, he decides. Henry can’t wait much longer, and the townspeople can’t either. They are all really sad, and now that he is aware of it, it makes _him_ sad.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, he sighs. Only half an hour before Emma picks him up.

“Henry? Did you space out, honey?”

He flashes his teacher a smile. “Nope. I’m right here, Miss Blanchard.”

With a smile and a nod, Miss Blanchard carries on with the lesson. Honestly, Henry thinks, this whole thing is starting to take a toll on him. It’s one thing if Emma notices him acting weird, but it’s a whole different thing if his teacher does too—that means he must be slipping out, _badly_.

Sighing, he toys with the pencil on his hand, pretending to be paying attention.

Only half an hour, and then he can finally tell Emma about this whole thing. It’s risky, but it’s better now, here, considering they will be alone, rather than at the house. She might not believe him—actually, he’s sure she _won’t_ believe him, but he still has some hope left inside of him.

After all, the heroes always win in the end, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we continue! if you have any thoughts about this one, please let me know in the comments! 
> 
> btw, if you want to scream about swan queen with me on twitter, my @ is @paragraphrhymer
> 
> i hope you all have a nice day, sending you hugs <3


	3. nice life

Emma Swan likes her life.

She has a wonderful kid, an even more wonderful wife, and a nice job—she lives in an _actual_ house, in a good town. She has a family, above all things.

It’s more than what she ever expected to achieve, more than what she ever hoped to get. She’s never expected much of anything, always forced to make do with whatever crumbs she got out of life—but this? She is pretty sure it doesn’t get better than this.

And, well, she supposes even a great life like this one isn’t without a few ups and downs. It would be unrealistic, truly.

A few bumps along the road are normal, aren’t they? But this…she isn’t so sure this is a _bump along the road_ , or a part of the _ups and downs_ —she is most likely certain this isn’t _normal_ at all, and she’s starting to freak out a bit. 

Because, with all due honesty, as she and Henry sit inside her yellow bug, Emma is starting to believe maybe she should call Regina and pull her out of whatever meeting she is probably in right now. What is she even meant to do in a situation like this one?

“Listen, kid, I don’t know if this is meant to be a joke or what but—“

“It’s not!” Henry protests, book open on top of his lap. Where did he even get that book? She sure as hell doesn’t remember buying it. “I’m telling you, it’s all true. You have to believe me, mom.”

“ _Believe you?_ Henry, you can’t seriously expect me to believe that your mother is the _Evil Queen_ from Snow White and that we are all living some sort of cursed life.” She nearly laughs from how ridiculous that sounds.

“But we are! Just because _we_ are happy it doesn’t mean the rest of the town is. Everyone is miserable, and it’s because they are all cursed.”

“Right.” Emma closes her eyes for a second, pinching her nose. “Alright, if being cursed equals being miserable, then how come I’m not miserable?”

He rolls his eyes at her, as if it was a dumb question. “Because the Queen can’t have you suspecting anything. You are the one meant to break the curse! If you are happy, then there’s no reason for you to change the way things are.”

“That’s your mom you are talking about, Henry. Not some super evil master mind, _your mom_. The same mom that made you breakfast this morning, and the same mom that tucked you into bed last week, and—“

“I know!” He interrupts her. She can see this is making him sad, making him conflicted in a way that she doesn’t understand yet. “But that’s the thing—she’s good to us, because she doesn’t want us to realize who she really is. It’s the perfect cover up!”

What would Regina do if she heard him talk about her like that? Emma can’t even imagine the hurt her wife would feel.

She takes the book out of his lap. “It’s just a book, Henry. _Just_ a book. It’s fiction; it’s all a fairy tale.” Emma opens the book at a random spot, trying to prove her point—in the illustrative images can be seen what she assumes are a Queen and, taking a bow next to her, a soldier of some kind. She holds out to book to him, showing the image clearly. “Your mom may look like this Queen, and I may look like this knight, but that doesn’t mean it’s us.”

Henry stares at her for a full ten seconds before replying. “I never said you were a knight.”

“What?”

“This.” He points at the armed soldier in the picture. “The knight has full armour on—you can’t even see their face because of the helmet.”

She shakes her head. “That’s beside the point, kid. What I’m trying to tell you is that none of this is real, okay? Who even gave you that book?”

“I found it on the street.”

_Beep, beep._ The alarms immediately go off inside her.

Honestly, he should know better than to lie. Perhaps he can get away with lying to Regina once in a while—and that’s an impossible achievement on its own, considering that woman knows their son like the back of her hand—but lying to Emma? Lying to the mom that has a literal _lie detector_ inside her brain?

Yeah, good luck getting away with doing that.

Emma looks at him, cocks an eyebrow, and waits.

“Fine. Miss Blanchard gave it to me.”

His teacher? “Then I guess I’m going to have a talk with Miss Blanchard.”

“Don’t be mad at her! Please, I’m sure she hasn’t even read it.” Henry sighs. “She just wanted to do something nice for me.”

Emma can’t really wrap her head around this whole thing. Henry seemed fine this morning, this last few days he had been his normal self—perhaps a bit stranger, a bit more isolated, yes, but she and Regina had attributed it to normal preteen behaviour. They wouldn’t have imagined any of this, most certainly.

Could something be wrong with him? He had always been an imaginative kid, but this thing is too far. If it was an adult, then she would have considered calling for a therapist, but this a kid. _Her_ kid.

God, what is she even going to tell Regina? Hey sweetheart, our son is convinced that you are an Evil Queen who cursed an entire town and I’m the one destined to break said curse—by the way, what’s for dinner tonight?

“Is this why you’ve been so distant lately?

Henry nods, staring at his hands in nervousness. “I can’t—I can’t really be around her now. Not when I know the truth, when I know who she really is.”

Emma has to make a conscious effort to push back the gasp that almost falls out of her lips. She grabs his shoulders, making him look at her straight in the eyes. “Henry, this is your mom we are talking about. She would never do anything to hurt you—I know she can be dramatic, but cursing us would be a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

“She’s not who you think she is, mom.” He insists.

Sighing, Emma lets him go and places her hands on the steering wheel. “Can we go home now? We can talk some more about this later.”

“Fine.”

The ride home ends up being five minutes long instead of ten like it usually is—Regina would surely scoff at her for rushing while driving the _metal death trap_ that is her bug—and Henry is silent the whole time, no matter what random topic she tries to bring up.

As soon as they arrive and she finishes parking the car, he grabs the book and is out, running towards the door, ignoring her calling for him to wait up. 

Once inside, red jacket placed in the coat rack and shoes off, Emma wanders off to the kitchen, only to find Regina already in it, as if she was expecting her.

“Surprised to see me?”

Emma can already feel her lips forming a dumb smile—honestly, after a day like this, seeing her wife is about the only thing that could help ease her. Regina’s always had a special way of keeping her grounded, no matter what happens.

Instead of answering, she settles on softly kissing Regina. “Nope, just glad to see you. I thought you were supposed to work till late today?”

“Well, yes, but let’s not forget I’m the mayor, dear—there’s no boss around to scold me from getting off work a little early.”

Opening the fridge, Emma replies. “Ah, yes, my bad for forgetting you are the big bad boss around here.” She looks at Regina over the refrigerator’s door, putting a concerned face on. “Am I being disrespectful, or should I go put on my badge and uniform, ma’am?”

Regina laughs at that, and before Emma can get the bottle of water she wanted, she has Regina’s arms wrapped around her from behind, lips right in her ear. “You are ridiculous. But, if you insist, _Miss Swan_ , maybe I’d like to see you put on that uniform of yours, later on.”

“Oh, don’t tempt me, Madame Major—“ With a slight laugh, Emma turns around to kiss her once again, but cuts herself off when, instead of her usual Regina, she is met with the a very different one.

A Regina, who instead of wearing her usual attire, is now suddenly wearing an honest to God _red corset_ , with one of those puffy dresses you only see in moves, her hair in a weird tall ponytail. Emma simply stares at her, not being capable of saying anything, because, honestly, _what the hell?_

Regina seems to not notice anything wrong, because she only looks slightly concerned. “Emma? Are you okay?” 

Emma takes a step back, disentangling herself from her wife’s arms, hitting the fridge with her back—which, _ouch_ —, and looks around her. She is still in the same kitchen, still in the same house.

“Why—what are you—how is it that—“ Her sight begins to get a bit blurry, dots appearing in her vision, where Emma is _sure_ they shouldn’t be appearing.

She feels Regina’s hands on her face, hears her questioning what’s wrong, and before she can even think of an answer to reassure her partner, her entire vision fades to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! this one is from emma's pov, and to be honest i had a lot of writing it, especially the last part. i kind of suck at descriptions, so sorry if that part was also kind of ??
> 
> if you have any thoughts, please leave a comment! i very much enjoy reading your feedback, and it helps a lot
> 
> (also, if you see any typos is because i literally just finished writing this)

**Author's Note:**

> hey! so, this is my first ever swan queen fanfiction. it starts off a little confusing, but bear with me for a little bit and it will all make sense. 
> 
> please, if you have any thoughts about it, let me know! i'd love to hear your thoughts. 
> 
> (also, if you see any spelling mistakes is probably because i uploaded this at 2am.)
> 
> see you in the next chapter, sending you hugs <3


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